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My House

Living Room

check on check on check | tufted wool living room rug

Over 10 years ago, I shared here on this blog that rugs were my decorating nemesis.  I would get a room where I really loved it and then I would miss on the rug.  It would be too busy, too bright, too light, too dark, or not the right color, material, or style.  It would hijack the room and fight with other elements instead of complementing or enhancing them.  While I think I’ve gotten better with selecting rugs (I mostly go with neutral, safe selections), it’s still an area of struggle.  I don’t know if I’ll ever feel entirely confident, but I have picked some winners in recent years that have made me feel a bit better about the whole thing! In the living room, we’ve had my default rug of choice – woven jute.  They are neutral, work well with antiques, and are forgiving when it comes to kids

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1970 home renovation

2025 yard clean-up

In the final days of February, we kicked off the yard work season of 2025.  We had a few warmer days and wanted to be outside, so we decided to start cleaning up the left side of the house.  This is the side of the house we’ve avoided the last two Springs because it’s such a tangled mess and seemed overwhelming.  Jeff has wanted to rip it all out since we bought the house, but I’ve been protective of it and insisted it would be better to trim it all back.  It’s a nice hedge of beautiful bushes that would cost a lot to replace.  He was willing to leave them but was itching to cut them way back, so that’s what we did. As a reminder, this is what the house looked like when we bought it… And this is what it looked like last summer while I was

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1970 home renovation

how to remove carpet glue from concrete | part 2

I have had a lot of long, drawn-out projects in my DIY career, but I think removing the carpet glue from the concrete floor in the basement might take the cake.  I haven’t been working on it consistently or faithfully.  Instead, I will push now and then to make more progress but then I get tired of it and work on more enjoyable things.  My mom is a great motivator when it comes to completing tedious projects I’m sick of, so she encouraged me to buy a second wallpaper steamer (which can also be used for the remaining wallpaper in the house that needs to be removed) and is helping me complete this project.  Jeff and Calvin have both helped, but my mom is very determined and will be the best partner in this endeavor. In part one of this riveting carpet glue saga, I shared all the products and

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Home Studio

art studio tour

I finally did it! I filmed a detailed tour of my studio, taking a deep dive into all of the drawers to show you how things are currently organized.  I use the word organized a bit loosely since the drawers are a bit of a mess at the moment.  I use the word currently because I’m already working on sorting and streamlining things. This studio tour video is 2 1/2 years after a move followed by extensive renovations to the house.  (You can read about our renovations HERE.)  I’ve needed the space to function, but organizing each drawer hasn’t been a priority.  I just put things away and decided I would deal with it all when I was ready.  I’ve also learned that time gives me a better perspective of how I’ll use the space and even what I will use.  If a drawer hasn’t been opened in two years,

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1970 home renovation

kitchen backsplash update

Since our kitchen renovation almost two years ago, the question I often receive is about our backsplash.  Or lack of a backsplash to be more specific.  If you followed along during the kitchen renovation, you know I was taking my time with each decision.  (You can read more about that HERE.)  I only made a decision when it needed to be made and let the rest of the decisions wait.  I already had to make a hundred big and little decisions and definitely experienced the decision fatigue that’s common with home renovations.  The backsplash would be installed after the counter and cabinets were in place, so I could wait to select the tile after the kitchen was essentially finished.  And, that’s what I did. Right now, my walls are plasterboard with Sherwin William’s premium interior latex paint, Emerals, in a matte finish.  I have found the paint to be every

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1970 home renovation

2025 home project wish list

I was amused as I was putting together my wish-list projects for this post because I know my eyes are bigger than my stomach when it comes to my home project ambitions.  I always overestimate my energy and underestimate the time and money it will take to complete a project.  I don’t know if I’ll ever learn my lesson in this area because I am an optimist.  I did leave some of the more expensive projects off the list, like new windows and bathroom renovations because it’s doubtful those will be a financial priority this year, but we’ll see. Here are my hopes for 2025… Paint the trim and doors along the back of the house and paint and install the shutters.  I planned on doing this last year when the weather was warm and we just never got around to it.  I even have the paint and the shutters

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1970 home renovation

2024 home project recap

If you’ve ever lived in a house that needs some work, even if it’s just customizing it to suit your tastes, you know it’s important to stop now and then and appreciate how much you’ve done.  It’s easy to focus on projects still hanging out on the to-do list and lose sight of all of the ones that are crossed off.  So, around the end of one year or the beginning of the next, I like to reflect in a blog post.  You can find 2023 HERE and 2022 HERE. So, I had an ambitious amount of projects on my list for this year and many of them didn’t get done.  We’re in a season of life where we need to buy cars for teenagers, pay for their car insurance (yikes), and pay for college classes.  New windows and bathroom renovations got bumped down the list.  But, we still got

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All Things Home

Christmas dining room 2024

This year, I focused my Christmas decorating on our home’s three public (and most used) rooms – the kitchen, living room, and dining room.  Some years, I will add decor to the bedrooms, bathrooms, or my studio, but I decided to keep it simple.  I enjoyed decorating the kitchen and living room this year, but my favorite was the dining room.  For our first Christmas in the house, the walls still wore remnants of wallpaper glue and an old minty-green paint.  Last year, the walls were simply primed white.   (You can see that HERE.)  This year, the ceiling is freshly painted, wainscoting and trim have been installed and painted in Oval Room Blue, and a hand-painted mural (in the French block-print scenic wallpaper style) is about 90% finished.  There are still things to do, but it feels like a finished room. As I did with the kitchen and living rooms,

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I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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